Paid twice: recalling a duplicate SCT
Trigger: Bank Alfa discovers it sent the same transfer twice — after the beneficiary has already been credited.
What operations sees first: Settlement reconciliation shows two identical settled payments against one customer instruction; the customer may also call about the amount arriving twice.
WHERE IS THE MONEY?
The customer was debited once; the duplicate was funded from Bank Alfa's own settlement position, so the exposure sat with the bank until the return settled back.
DID SETTLEMENT HAPPEN?
Both the original and the duplicate settled; the duplicate was then reversed economically by a separately settled return.
WHO ACTS NEXT?
Bank Alfa (debtor agent) Operations traces the duplicate to its source — a resubmitted batch or a retry without idempotency controls — and fixes it so the recall stays a one-off.
PLAY THE EXCEPTION
Trigger: Bank Alfa discovers it sent the same transfer twice and asks for the second one back — after the beneficiary was already credited.
The debtor initiates the transfer
Debtor (payer) → Bank Alfa (debtor agent) · pain.001
The customer instructs their bank to pay. A corporate typically sends a pain.001 file; a retail customer uses a banking channel that creates the same instruction internally.
Step 1 of 15: The debtor initiates the transfer
- 02ProcessingBank Alfa validates the instructionBank Alfa (debtor agent)
- 03PostingThe debtor's account is debitedBank Alfa (debtor agent)
- 05Clearing obligationThe CSM calculates positionsClearing & settlement mechanism
- 06SettlementPositions settle in central bank moneyBank Alfa (debtor agent) → Nordbank (creditor agent)
- 08ProcessingNordbank validates and screens the incoming paymentNordbank (creditor agent)
- 09PostingThe creditor's account is creditedNordbank (creditor agent)
- 10 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingBank Alfa detects the duplicateBank Alfa (debtor agent)
- 13 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingNordbank reviews the recallNordbank (creditor agent)
- 15 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlementThe recalled funds settle backNordbank (creditor agent) → Bank Alfa (debtor agent)
- OUTCOME
- Funds
- Recovered to Bank Alfa and re-credited to the duplicate's source account.
- Settlement
- Original settlement stood; the recall was answered by a separately settled return.
- Who acts next
- Bank Alfa (debtor agent) — Bank Alfa fixes the duplicate-detection gap that let the second instruction through.
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
- 02ProcessingBank Alfa validates the instructionBank Alfa (debtor agent)
The debtor agent checks the format, the IBAN, available funds, and runs compliance screening before accepting the instruction for execution.
Screening checkpoint: Debtor-agent transaction screening — Names and remittance data are screened against sanctions lists before the payment goes interbank.
- 03PostingThe debtor's account is debitedBank Alfa (debtor agent)
Once accepted, Bank Alfa books the debit. The customer's money has left their account, but no money has yet moved between banks.
- DR Debtor's current account at Bank Alfa — EUR 12,500.00
- 05Clearing obligationThe CSM calculates positionsClearing & settlement mechanism
The CSM validates the message and includes it in a clearing cycle. Each participant's obligations are calculated — this creates who-owes-whom, not yet a movement of money.
Clearing produces obligations. The banks do not have their money yet — that only happens at settlement.
- 06SettlementPositions settle in central bank moneyBank Alfa (debtor agent) → Nordbank (creditor agent)
The calculated positions settle across the banks' settlement accounts at the central bank. Only now has money finally moved between Bank Alfa and Nordbank.
- DR Bank Alfa settlement account — EUR 12,500.00
- CR Nordbank settlement account — EUR 12,500.00
- 08ProcessingNordbank validates and screens the incoming paymentNordbank (creditor agent)
The creditor agent checks that the account exists and can be credited, and runs its own sanctions screening on the incoming payment.
Screening checkpoint: Creditor-agent inbound screening — The receiving bank screens independently — it cannot rely on the sender's screening alone.
- 09PostingThe creditor's account is creditedNordbank (creditor agent)
Nordbank credits the beneficiary. The transfer is complete end to end: customer debited, banks settled, beneficiary credited.
- CR Creditor's current account at Nordbank — EUR 12,500.00
- 10 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingBank Alfa detects the duplicateBank Alfa (debtor agent)
Reconciliation or a customer complaint surfaces the duplicate. A recall is a request, not a right — the money is in someone else's account now.
- 13 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingNordbank reviews the recallNordbank (creditor agent)
The creditor agent checks the claim and, per the scheme's rules, may need the beneficiary's consent before taking money back. A refused recall is answered with a camt.029 instead.
- 15 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlementThe recalled funds settle backNordbank (creditor agent) → Bank Alfa (debtor agent)
The positive recall answer is settled like any return.
- DR Nordbank settlement account — EUR 12,500.00
- CR Bank Alfa settlement account — EUR 12,500.00
- OUTCOME
- Funds
- Recovered to Bank Alfa and re-credited to the duplicate's source account.
- Settlement
- Original settlement stood; the recall was answered by a separately settled return.
- Who acts next
- Bank Alfa (debtor agent) — Bank Alfa fixes the duplicate-detection gap that let the second instruction through.
THE TIMELINE
- 01Bank AlfaReconciliation surfaces two settled pacs.008 messages for the same underlying instruction.
A recall is a request, not a right — the second payment is already in someone else's account.
- 02Bank AlfaSends a cancellation request through the CSM referencing the duplicate pacs.008, with reason code DUPL.camt.056
- 03CSMRoutes the recall request to the creditor agent for a decision.camt.056
- 04NordbankReviews the recall and, where the scheme requires it, seeks the beneficiary's agreement before taking funds back.
A refused recall would come back as a camt.029 negative answer instead of money.
- 05NordbankAnswers positively: the funds travel back as a return referencing the recall, and the return settles through the CSM.pacs.004
- 06Bank AlfaReceives the settled return, matches it to the recall case, and squares its books for the duplicated amount.
Resolution: The recall is accepted and answered with a pacs.004, so the duplicate amount settles back. Had the beneficiary refused, the answer would have been a camt.029 and Bank Alfa would have needed a route outside the scheme to recover the money.
Sources for this scenario2
- Scheme-specific rule2025 version 1.1 (EPC125-05)
2025 SEPA Credit Transfer rulebook ↗ — European Payments Council · recall section
Version 1.1 replaced version 1.0 at publication on 5 October 2025 and is stated to remain in effect up to 21 November 2027. It moves the date from which the unstructured address format is no longer permitted to 15 November 2026.
- Simplified educational illustration
Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal
What this simplifies: Single-CSM model; institution-specific handling varies.
Used wherever diagrams, scenarios, figures, or example values are didactic constructions rather than sourced facts; every such use carries a simplifications disclosure. All people, companies, banks, and list entries in examples are fictional.